All the talk so far has been about Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Umran Malik and his fiery pace. But other young Indian quicks, too, have made a mark in IPL 2022. Gujarat Titans’ Yash Dayal is one of them, gradually and quietly working his way towards establishing himself as an integral component of the table topper’s pace attack.
For a young fast bowler to take seven wickets from his first four matches, that too in his maiden IPL season, is commendable. The 24-year-old Dayal, who’s from Allahabad, hasn’t gone into the IPL with a heavy dose of domestic cricket behind him.
Making his debut in September 2018, the left-arm quick has so far featured in only 14 first-class and as many List A matches for Uttar Pradesh with 50 and 23 scalps, respectively, and 15 T20s before donning Titans colours. Neither is he as fast as Umran.
But what aids Dayal is his accuracy as well as the short-pitched stuff that can also be deadly, something Andre Russell had a feel of at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. That short ball had a cramped-up Russell holing out in the deep square-leg region, only to be saved as Dayal had overstepped.
“It was during the 2009-10 season that Yash’s father Chandarpal (also a former fast bowler who had played in the Vizzy Trophy in the late 80s and early 90s) brought him to me at the Madan Mohan Malviya Stadium (in Allahabad),” recalls Kaushik Pal, one of Dayal’s personal coaches.
“I made him bowl after warm-up. His basics in terms of bowling, like grip, run-up and follow through were quite okay and he bowled at around 120-125kph. I had then made him play in a tournament and he did well there too with his speed going up to 126-128kmph.
“He bowled short of good length and got good bounce as well. He disguised it so well that the batters also couldn’t gauge he would bowl a bouncer,” Pal said.
According to former Uttar Pradesh pacer Asif Zafar, who was a part of the team coaching staff in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, “Yash’s release position, which used to be a concern earlier, is better now and he can move the ball both ways.
“Besides, he’s bowling at a decent pace and the bouncer he’s bowling is even better than what it used to be.”
To speak of his accuracy, Dayal (1/24 off 4 overs) turned out to be the bowler with the best economy rate in the Titans’ win over the Sunrisers on a batsman-friendly Wankhede wicket on Wednesday.
Focus on fitness
Fitness, too, used to be an issue for Dayal during his early days. “We made him do the fitness drills both in the morning and evening,” Pal said.
“Once he finished bowling, we made sure he followed it up by cooling down and ground stretching along with back exercises, which are crucial for quicks. I would tell him, ‘You have the strength. Just work on your speed, endurance and agility’.
“He has improved on these aspects, definitely. But if he works a little more on his fitness, he’ll consistently bowl at 140kmph or more,” Pal stressed.
